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He was approached by Russian troops shortly after the offensive started final Thursday, however for 3 days, Ukrainian forces saved the Russians at bay.
Then, on Sunday, Russian troops entered town, in line with the area’s governor, Oleh Sinyubov.
What occurred subsequent affords clues to the fierce resistance of Russian troops in Ukraine’s cities and cities – and why they haven’t but risen as shortly as consultants initially feared.
“The Armed Forces of Ukraine are eliminating the enemy,” Sinyubov reassured the residents of Kharkiv that day.
Videos uploaded on social media give a uncommon glimpse of clashes on the streets of town.
A sequence of movies uploaded to social media confirmed an try by a Russian unit to maneuver in direction of an vital airfield and arms manufacturing facility northeast of Kharkiv. The airspace at Kharkiv State Aircraft Manufacturing Company is small – only one runway – however could possibly be a helpful bridgehead for the Russians.
CNN has geolocated and verified the authenticity of the video.
The first video, taken by a resident, exhibits a convoy of Russian troopers surrounding army automobiles, crawling alongside a roadway that ends close to the airfield.
“There are two [military vehicles] As far as I can see,” somebody says within the video. “A third is crawling with infantry with automatic weapons, getting ready.”
Suddenly gunshots are heard and seen. A Russian soldier shortly kneels down and fires a shoulder-launched rocket towards the realm the bullets are coming from.
A second video, taken after the shelling, clearly exhibits army automobiles in retreat. Russian troopers are seen hiding behind their automobiles.
A Reuters journalist who went to the scene after the gunfight was proven video exhibiting one of many Russian automobiles from a army convoy and a big quantity of snow bleeding on the bottom close by.
A Reuters journalist spoke to a resident, recognized as Yevgeny, who informed him that at the least one Russian soldier had been killed there.
“Others run away when we’ve hit it,” Yevgeny informed Reuters, pointing to a patch of blood within the snow. He tells the journalist that there have been 12 to fifteen folks within the group.
“They will not take Kharkiv,” he insisted. “They’ve run away from where they came. They don’t have the good navigation you see. Nothing works for them. They came and were hiding behind houses.”
The retreating efforts of the troops appeared to have been halted by one other assault. A convoy of automobiles – of the identical sort seen within the earlier clip – is seen on fireplace in one other video.
In the video, somebody might be heard shouting, “This is how we b*tch greet the Russian army.” “Come here and blindfold him. And it will happen to anyone who visits us here on the soil of Kharkiv.”
It will not be doable to say with certainty that the Russian vehicles seen on fireplace are the identical ones filmed making an attempt to achieve the airport, however they’re in the identical location, of the identical sort, and have the identical markings.
Another video apparently taken on the website of a later deserted army convoy – the automobiles now not fireplace – exhibits Ukrainian troopers participating.
Amid the gunfight, a Ukrainian soldier is seen leaping out of the wall and firing a shoulder-launched rocket.
Watching the video, CNN nationwide safety and army analyst Retired General Mark Hertling stated the Ukrainian unit was armed with rocket-propelled grenades.
“You see that force, that little squad of about 10 people, that guy that’s farthest from us, repeatedly firing rocket-propelled grenades, he’s fired five of them by my count, that launcher handing over to another guy, they’re reloading and he’s ready to shoot again.”
“And everyone else, you see the calm, calm, collected attitude of these soldiers, they’re not scared, they’re ready to kick some butt,” he stated.
Later, one other video confirmed Ukrainian troopers across the convoy, rummaging by way of deserted automobiles. Sporadic gunshots are heard and a few Ukrainian forces transfer alongside a wall within the background.
“Slavic Ukrainian,” says somebody within the video (“Glory to Ukraine”).
Swift response
But on Monday, Russian troops returned to Kharkiv’s northeastern suburbs and resumed their assault on town.
Multiple social media movies geolocated by CNN confirmed rockets concurrently detonating in a residential space within the Saltivka neighborhood, near a grocery store. One confirmed a rocket booster positioned within the sidewalk of the street, as civilians watched.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova posted on Facebook: “It’s more hellish in Kharkiv today than it was yesterday.”
According to the Kharkiv City Council, a girl civilian was killed within the newest shelling, and 31 folks – 15 troopers and 16 civilians – have been injured.
In latest days, town council has recorded seven deaths – two troopers and 5 civilians – and 44 wounded, together with 20 troopers.
An adviser to Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, Anton Gerashchenko, described the scenario there as “a nightmare” on Monday, saying “Kharkiv has been the victim of a massive Grad shelling! Dozens of victims.”
Russia says it doesn’t goal civilians.
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